How salty foods affect hunger and weight loss

By Stereophonics

導讀:咸的食物會讓你更有饑餓感嗎?它們能幫助你燃燒更多的卡路里嗎?一項新的研究發現，鹽對調整饑餓感和減肥有不一樣的效果。了解一下這些對你有何影響吧。

Most of the warnings we hear about reducing the amount of salt in our diets have to do with reducing the risks related to high blood pressure.But a new study suggests another reason that some people may want to curtail their sodium intake:Eating salty foods may make you hungrier.

I’ve always suspected on an intuitive level that salty foods might lead you to eat more than you otherwise would—simply because they can be tasty.For example,I am likely to eat more salted nuts than unsalted nuts.Even though I enjoy the flavor of unsalted nuts,somehow salted nuts are more compelling.Instead of having a handful and feeling satisfied,as I might with unsalted almonds or cashews,I just want to keep eating salted nuts.

In fact,one of the things that I suggest for people who find it difficult to observe portion control when eating nuts is to switch to the unsalted variety.

But this recent study found something even more interesting,and way more complicated.

A salty diet may increase appetite

This study was done on a small group of Russian cosmonauts who were living in a simulated space capsule as training for a long mission.Over the course of the study,the researchers changed up the amount of salt in the cosmonauts’diets,ranging from a low sodium diet of around 2,300 mg per day,to a more typical intake of 3,500 mg per day,up to a peak of 4,800 mg of sodium a day.Although the salt varied,the calorie levels remained the same.And yet,as the researchers increased the amount of salt on the food,the subjects reported being hungrier.

A parallel study done by the same researchers in mice found that higher sodium diets caused the mice to eat a lot more food.

The other weird thing that the researchers noticed—in both the men and the mice—was that as their salt intake increased,their urine output increased—despite the fact that they were drinking less water.

How the body gets rid of salt

Increasing urine production is one way the body has of getting extra sodium out of the body.For the last 50 years at least,we’ve been told that when people eat more salt it makes them thirsty,causing them to increase their fluid intake.That extra fluid increases urine output,which helps flush the excess sodium out of the body.

That’s the story anyway.And that’s the logic behind that bowl of salty pretzels on the bar.It’s there to make you thirsty so you order more drinks.Well,barkeeps,you may want to reevaluate your strategy.

In these studies,eating more salt didn’t make the subjects thirstier;over the long run,it made them less thirsty.And yet despite drinking less water,they were producing more urine.So,where was all that extra fluid coming from if they weren’t drinking it?

我們所聽到的關于減少飲食中鹽攝入量的警告大多與降低高血壓相關的風險有關。但是一項新的研究表明，一些人可能想要減少他們的鈉攝入量：吃咸的食物可能會讓你感到更加饑餓。

我一直懷疑，在一個直觀的層面上，咸食可能會讓你吃得比你多，因為它們很好吃。例如，與無鹽的堅果相比，我可能會吃更咸的堅果。雖然我喜歡無鹽堅果的味道，但有些咸的堅果更吸引人，就像我會購買無鹽的杏仁或干酪一樣，但我更偏向于吃咸的堅果。

事實上，我建議那些在吃堅果的時候很難選擇吃什么類型的人，最好選擇無鹽的品種。

但是最近的研究發現了一些更有趣的東西，而且更加復雜。

咸的食物能增加食欲

這項研究是在一組俄羅斯宇航員身上完成的，研究過程中，他們生活在模擬的太空艙里，作為一項長期任務的訓練。在這項研究中,研究人員改變了宇航員的飲食中鹽的量,從每天2，300毫克左右的低鈉飲食,提升到每天攝入3，500毫克,峰值的時候每天攝入4，800毫克的鈉。盡管鹽的含量有所不同，但卡路里的含量仍然保持不變。然而，當研究人員增加了食物中鹽的含量時，研究對象報告說他們變得更饑餓。

同時，研究人員在老鼠身上做了同樣的研究發現，高鹽的飲食會讓老鼠吃更多的食物。

研究人員在男性和老鼠身上發現的另一件奇怪的事情是，當他們的鹽攝入量增加時，盡管他們喝的水少了，他們的尿量卻增加了。

人體是如何排出多余鹽分的

增加尿量是人體從身體中排出多余鈉的一種方式。至少在過去的50年里，我們發現，當人們攝入更多的鹽時，就會使他們口渴，從而增加他們的液體攝入量。這種額外的液體會增加尿液的輸出，從而幫助把多余的鈉從身體里沖出來。

盡管這只是個故事，但這就是隱藏在吧臺上那碗咸椒鹽脆餅背后商業秘密。它會讓你口渴，你就會點更多的飲料。看到這里，不好意思，酒吧老板們，你們可能又要重新制定商業策略了。

在這些研究中，吃更多的鹽并沒有使實驗對象更口渴;從長時間看來，這讓他們不那么渴了。然而，盡管喝的水少了，他們卻產生了更多的尿液。那么，他們不喝水這些額外的尿液是從哪里來的呢？